According to an article in the Durango Herald, the D&S will run 3 instead of 4 trains to Silverton during peak season. The 7:30 train has been cancelled due to weak bookings.

Here's the article:
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/08/news080523_1.htm
The article concludes by saying that the D&SNG still "plans to add the San Juan Coach, a premium car set to begin service June 2."

What is the San Juan Coach? It is not listed on the D&SNG's page about accomodations:

http://www.durangotrain.com/book_now/index.php

--
Chris Webster
http://www.speakeasy.org/~cwebster

I'Ve never heard of the San Juan coach or a San Juan train set on D&S. Never saw such when there October 2007. Only premium car trainsets I know of are the Cinco Animas/Silver Vista and the Nomad/Rio Grande set of cars. Might be something new. I think the reporter probably got it wrong.

BTW I rode the Nomad last year. The only way to go!

Bill

I can get all the gas I want. True, the prices are up. But, I haven't seen any gas lines, or Odd or Even days as yet. I've seen a gas crisis, and we're not there yet.

And besides, who really gets up early enough on vacation to actually take a 7:30 train? 8:30 or 9:00 is early enough for vacation. I'm sure if the demand picks up they can double head on the remaining trains if they need to.

(CNN) -- At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate.

See the entire article on the CNN website:
As gas goes up, driving goes down

It appears that the groups planning events this year should lower their expectations for turnout. Over the Memorial Day weekend, all of our neighbors stayed home. None of them did any long distance or overnight trips.

MX

Could this "fuel crisis" also be an opportunity to promote a destination to those closer to it?' "Why go far away for fun - come here!"

As an example, here in Birmingham, while not railroad related, Alabama Adventure theme park, had record attendence this weekend. Local news interviewed people there, many from Mississippi, who said they would normally have gone to Six Flags Atlanta ( a much bigger park), but opted for AL Adventure because it was closer.

I know this doesn't work for those places relatively remote like DSNG, C&TS, etc. However, I think where it could work efforts should be made to market to those within a few hours drive.

Anybody doing this type of target marketing yet?
Bill

Now, how do attractions use this to market in the local area, as nobody seems to want to drive 500 miles for a weekend trip anymore?

Crisis is a relative term. I think what we have is rising gas prices, and it is being promoted as a crisis for a variety of reasons. Promotion can change perception in a way that can turn any problem into a crisis. So, in my opinion, this current “crisis” over gas price is much larger than the actual price problem.

Therefore, what vacation travel destination attractions need to do is market to the perception of the gas price crisis rather than the reality of gas prices. You do that by giving free gasoline to your patrons. You build that cost into your cost of doing business even if it means raising prices in other areas. Since the free gas is a solution to a largely symbolic problem, the amount does not need to be great enough to have a substantial impact on the actual fuel cost of the trip. From the consumer’s point of view, the accounting is mostly psychological.

By offsetting the symbolic cost of an artificial crisis, it is possible to make more money than otherwise would be the case if there were no such crisis.

Consider your level of community visibility. Doing a promotion with a local radio or TV station benefitting another local institution lets the proximate community know you are there and offering activity, buying a billboard will do the same for those that are driving around the area.

dave

Promote to the local suburban communities; not to the major metro center 75 miles away. The local communites have plenty of people who may not want to go to an attraction on the other side of the metro area.

Bill -

Our Museum Secretary tells me that ridership over the 3 day Memorial Day weekend was up about 35%. And we had only 3 trains each day this year, instead of the 4 we ran each day last year.

Anyone else have figures?

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

Les,
Always glad to hear that ridership is up! We had a good turn out at HOD Saturday, but nothing record breaking.
Bill

A certain "Photo Special" organizer known to many on this board, that's who! <g>

Having done "dawn patrol" with him on many occasions, I know it's true!

Men, (and any ladies) look at the gas prices and the decrease of long distance travel this way;

This will send a message to Exxon and Mobil, the two largest oil importers and the Co's. making record profits off us glutinous consumers, that we will not use all of their product at the current prices, that will bring prices down. Just maybe by showing our willingness to "not" go off on long distance trips, those two companies will start lowering their over inflated prices. The other small producers will have to follow.

Supply an Demand; Decrease demand & the supply goes up, then the cost comes down.

I just hope our tourist attraction RR"s can weather the storm for the year and maybe next year, until things change, hopefully for the better!